what do almost all old tv westerns have in common ?

[tiredmike59]

you seldom saw any where the main characters were married. even the shows that had grown up offspring still living at home; bonanza,big valley,lancer etc... there were a lot of people on gunsmoke,but they were all single. only a couple come to mind that had married characters; daniel boone, roy rogers show. high chaparral started off with his wife getting bumped off in the first episode,but he did marry again, but his brother,son and all the ranch hands were single. look at all the others; lone ranger, cisco kid, annie oakley, have gun will travel,wanted dead or alive, the virginian. i guess there was no place for marriage in the tv western.

[tv star collector]

The Virginian was another exception to the rule. From 1967 to 1970,
John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan (real-life husband and wife) played Clay
Grainger and his wife Holly.

[treky]

you seldom saw any where the main characters were married. even the shows that had grown up offspring still living at home; bonanza,big valley,lancer etc... there were a lot of people on gunsmoke,but they were all single. only a couple come to mind that had married characters; daniel boone, roy rogers show. high chaparral started off with his wife getting bumped off in the first episode,but he did marry again, but his brother,son and all the ranch hands were single. look at all the others; lone ranger, cisco kid, annie oakley, have gun will travel,wanted dead or alive, the virginian. i guess there was no place for marriage in the tv western.
yea, I never thought of that.

Joe got married once on "BONANZA" in the last season but then she was killed half-way through the episode.

[biffbronson]

Regarding Bonanza:

Ben had been married 3 times, all wives died.
Candy Canaday had been married once.
Adam nearly married Laura Dayton and was building a house for her. No marriage though.
Joe and Hoss both came close at times.

Regarding The Big Valley:

Jarrod was married briefly in one episode, but his new wife was shot dead.

While the original poster was quite correct, it's worth noting that marriage was a common theme -- even though deaths, etc. often prevented it happening or continuing!

[old grouch]

If you were a young lady on 'Bonanza' and you were enganged to a Cartwright brother, then watch out, because chances are you would be killed before the closing credits.

[cablejockey]

Most of the old westerns had that lone character fighting the bad guys, trying to get justice for the downtroden and trying to run away from a mysterious past! The shows just wouldn't be the same if he had to drag a family around! Or a girlfriend and 9-5 job.

[LUNCH]

^^^^That's true.I can understand why in shows like "Cheyenne" and "Have Gun Will travel" and a number of other westerns,the main character was single because he was usually always in a different location.--However in other westerns that took place mainly in the same town,it would have been interesting to see a main character or two that was married.I think it would have added to the show.---There must have been a reason why the talented writers and people who created these often very good shows kept the characters single,but I don't know what it is.

[biffbronson]

David Dortort of Bonanza (producer & creator if I'm not mistaken) once stated that he didn't want his male lead characters to be beholden to a woman. That probably includes Hop Sing as well...! Anyway that's more-or-less how he stated the reason for the Cartwright men remaining single. It's sort of a macho thing I guess you might say.

When Guy Williams as Will Cartwright landed Laura Dayton (Kathie Browne), that was only at the end of his appearances -- in other words, we know they were getting married, but we never got to see the marriage or their life together afterward...!

I also wanted to mention that on Gunsmoke, Merry Florene (Lane Bradbury) would have made an excellent wife for Newly, and she was very interested in pursuing marriage, yet he would not budge. Very dumb, a real shame.

[tdr]

I also wanted to mention that on Gunsmoke, Merry Florene (Lane Bradbury) would have made an excellent wife for Newly, and she was very interested in pursuing marriage, yet he would not budge. Very dumb, a real shame. I don't agree with that. They were just too different, and the idea of Merry Florene's no-good kinfolk being Newly's in-laws... Perhaps that's unfair to Merry Florene, in a way, though I suppose it's little wonder she had eyes for Newly. And Newly's ideal type was more like Patricia, whom he did marry in the episode with her name in the title. But, like is pointed out in this thread, it's only for a single ep and she's dead by the end-- a marriage to a major character would necessarily change the interactions, especially with one who lives dangerously and is away often pursuing his dangerous responsibilities. He would have to become more settled and civilized...which makes it ironic that it's the new wife who gets it, and not him [Newly, Little Joe, Jarrod Barkley, et al]. BTW I once wrote a fanfic about the aftereffects on Newly of ignoring Doc Adams' diagnosis of leukemia and losing his new wife. And that's another thing so often ignored in classic westerns, as much as some of us still like them-- tragic incidents have consequences which cannot be dealt with in a single timeslot.

[LUNCH]

Another thing you never notice in the older Westerns.None of them smoke cigarettes.You rarely if ever saw a character roll up a cigarette.They had tobacco in the old west and alot of smokers too,but not on the tv shows.